The Letter
1884
19th Century
29 1/2 x 24 1/2 in. (74.9 x 62.2 cm)
Maria Brooks,
American, born in England,
(1837–1913)
Object Type:
PAINTINGS
Creation Place:
North America
Medium and Support:
Oil on canvas
Credit Line:
Purchased with funds provided by the Art Angels
Accession Number:
07-P-529
Gallery Label:
Brooks is known primarily for her oil portraits and flower paintings. She studied at the South Kensington and Royal Academy Schools in London before opening a studio in Montreal, then moving to New York. The artist had a knack for evoking emotions from her subjects. The Quarterly Illustrator (1893) quoted her as telling one sitter, “You have a hundred faces… Now we will talk awhile until you get around to the one I want.”
Exhibition reviews in the Montreal Gazette (April 1885) titled this painting “Far, Far Away” because, “It is that of a young girl, who, having just read a letter from her sailor lover, is thinking tenderly of him, and it can be seen at a glance that she is regretting that he is so far, far away.” Also, Goupil & Co., who printed photogravures of this work, titled it “I Wonder if He Really Means It.”
Emily Levy, '12
Curatorial Intern
Current Location:
Art Museum : 19 C Gallery
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